Friday, December 6, 2013

Parshat Vayigash- Risk Your Life!

"And Yehudah approached him..." The Torah narrates the dramatic climax of the episode with Yosef and his brothers. Yosef deliberately frames his youngest brother Binyomin, "catching him" with his "stolen" silver goblet. "The one who was found with the cup will be my slave, and the rest of you will go up to your father in peace."

We know from the previous parsha that Yehudah took full responsibility to bring Binyomin back from Egypt alive and well. It was up to Yehudah to appeal for his release from Yosef, who was disguised. "Please, my master, we only came down here to begin with to buy food...and my master asked us if we had a father or a brother...and you said to your servants 'bring him (your brother) down to me so that I may see him. And we said to my master 'the young man is not able to leave his father...' And you told us 'if you don't bring your brother you may not see me again.' And now how can I go back up to my father without the young man (Binyomin) with us? Their souls are very closely bound to one another." Yehudah then suggested that he remain as a slave in Binyomin's place, "lest I see the evil that will befall my father." At that point Yosef was no longer able to contain his emotions, so he sent everyone out besides his brothers, and he began to cry, and he said "I am Yosef " and he revealed himself to his brothers.

Yosef had guards by him at all times so no one would harm him. Yosef sent out his guards before revealing to his brother "I am Yosef". Yosef risked his life by sending his guards out of the room in order not to embarrass his brothers even though what they did towards him was wrong. When a person embarrasses another he loses his share in the world to come. We must be very careful and sensitive to the words that we utter and the actions that we do to other person in order not to embarrass them even if they are wrong. We need to aspire to a certain level of Yosef Hatzadik and be sensitive to the feelings and embarrassment of our "brothers".